So how do Italians buy food, really? If you’re thinking of food markets in every town, brimming with people buying organic meat and vegetables directly from farmers, you may be in for a partial disappointment. In today’s Italy, most people buy their food at the supermarket. That’s not to say t...

The history of advertising is full of translation fails. Some of them are not completely true, however, “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux” is often touted as a failed slogan translation. Legend has it that the Swedish vacuum manufacturer used it for a campaign in the US when in fact, the target ...

You’ve probably heard of the Bendy Banana Law before: it’s an EU regulation that bans bananas that have a curvature beyond a certain standard. EU detractors have often used it as an example of how intrusive the European Commission can be in the lives of its member citizens. Although this claim h...

We place a vast amount of trust in the veracity of the information provided on food packaging. For those with food allergies, their lives can depend on the information that the packaging provides. For those who are dieting (whether for personal or medical reasons), ingredients and calorific values b...

If you are a manufacturer of dietary supplements, functional drinks, or any other food with added health benefits, the whole world is now your potential marketplace. Over the last few years, health-conscious consumers have fallen out of love with the idea of “dieting” and started to embrace an a...

There’s no getting away from it: we live in a global marketplace. Despite some questioning the notion that globalisation is always for the common good, the vast majority of businesses will continue to look beyond their borders to grow revenues in line with their ambitions. Once the preserve of big...

The increasingly complex challenges faced by today’s retail industry have been well documented of late – challenges which are often compounded when exporting. Brands and retailers need to address rapidly changing consumer behaviours and expectations, as well as respond to the pressures of sp...

China is now the world’s second-largest consumer of luxury goods (USA is first, Japan is 3rd). As the world economy grows the centre of gravity of the global middle-class shifts eastwards, with this shift your customers are changing, managing a luxury brand is not what it used to be. The key t...

After a stormy few weeks, the dust following the UK’s vote for Brexit is starting to settle. However, with the form that Brexit will actually take still unclear and much wrangling over the TTIP deal with the US still ahead, international trade is facing a period of uncertainty. For industrie...